Sam Hentges, a 4.25-star prospect, recently committed to St. Cloud State. He’s a tough player to defend against and has great vision and poise on the rush. Hentges, who can break down defense, played for Totino-Grace High in Minnesota, where he served as the captain his senior year. He was then drafted by the Des Moines Buccaneers, where he is currently playing.
Neutral Zone caught up with Hentges to talk about his experience playing in Minnesota, being cut from the Elite League and how he chose St. Cloud State.
NZ: What’s it like to have the same name as Cleveland’s pitcher, especially since you’re both from Minnesota?
SH: It’s cool, he grew up pretty close to me. So people always ask if me if we are cousins or brothers.
NZ: How and when did you start playing hockey?
SH: I think I was two years. My dad played pro hockey so he got me into it and I liked it, enjoyed it and fell in love with the game after that.
NZ: What’s your earliest memory of playing hockey?
SH: Probably down in Hampton Park playing with some of my friends when we were really young.
NZ: How did you end up in the USHL?
SH: Des Moines was scouting me my last year in my high school season, then I got to play in the NIT, which is where all the seniors who didn’t play junior, after their senior year, get to play. They picked me and they believed in me and I’m here now.
NZ: What are the benefits of playing high school hockey in Minnesota and how did it help you develop?
SH: The benefits are there’s a lot of good players, you’re always playing someone good on each team.
NZ: What was your toughest adjustment to playing at the USHL level?
SH: Every day you have to give 100 percent because if you don’t, someone else will.
NZ: What other schools reached out to you and where did you go on visits?
SH: I visited St. Cloud and a few other schools and I just fell in love with St. Cloud and just decided they have such a great coaching staff and a great campus. I wanted to go there.
NZ: What other factors went into your decision to pick St. Cloud State?
SH: Besides that they have great coaches, a great record, and a great campus, I would have to say it’s close to home and my best friend goes to St. John’s, which is like 15 minutes away, so that’s a factor too.
NZ: What would you say your best on-ice skill is?
SH: I think my hockey IQ, just being able to pass and make plays.
NZ: What area of your game are you trying to work on the most?
SH: My defense, just being able to have my teammates trust me every time I’m out there.
NZ: What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever seen while playing hockey?
SH: Maybe my sophomore year of high school a kid grabbed a goalie stick and was playing with it in the game.
NZ: What’s the toughest challenge you’ve faced in hockey?
SH: Going into my senior year I got cut from the Elite League and it just made me work that much harder. It was kind of deflating because all of the best kids in the state, like the top 200, play in it, and I wasn’t considered one at that time.
NZ: How did you bounce back from that?
SH: It just made me work so much harder and I just had to decide if I wanted to be a hockey player or not. I just decided I was going to put in that much more work than anyone else.
NZ: Was there anyone in particular who guided you through that time?
SH: Probably my dad and because I train up at MAP, Minnesota Advancement Program, they help me a ton.
NZ: What’s the toughest challenge you’ve faced in life?
SH: Probably when my grandpa died. It just made me realize you can’t take anything for granted, you just have to be grateful every day. Even when life gets hard, you just have to be grateful.
Photo Credit: Hickling Images